Virus B203
by swaggersaur
Summary: When a dangerous, mutated strain of the common cold breaks out into a virus epidemic, turning ordinary people into the blood-thirsty, mindless living dead, a brave few teenagers must fight to survive. Equal story lines for Badam / Fimogen / Eclare / Krew / Dalli
1. Phase I: I Healthy Volunteers

**Virus B-203**

_Classified Details as Follows: _**  
**

_Document A32: The following accounts the origin of suspected common cold mutation, Virus B-203._

_Report A44: Reports of suspected missing teenagers; awaiting verification. T-32 send to base in T -100._

* * *

Coughing and wheezing, the air felt almost constricting to the old scientist. For the past week, he had seriously reconsidered his stance on euthanasia; if given the chance, he'd start rallying for the support of it. Living was fun back when he was in good condition but the pain he felt now was almost unbearable. He had a history of respiratory illness so the fact that his death would come from something relating to his lungs was almost expected, but he never thought it would hurt so bad. Even the drugs the doctors kept pumping into his veins stopped helping him.

"Robert! Robert!"

The sound of his long time colleague's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He had spent a great thirty years working with him after graduating university together and the thought of leaving his best friend hurt him. Steven was always a good guy; he never raised his voice against Robert, no matter how irritated he got, and he was the first to find a solution when problems arose. They were brothers. Two brothers separate in only blood.

"Hey, Steven."

Robert struggled to talk, ignoring the tubes that ran down his nose and restricted too much movement and speech. He could see the pain in his best friend's face while watching him shuffle in place, trying to adjust to the most comfortable position.

"Do you need help?"

"No, no, I'm fine."

A heavy silence fell between the two friends. Robert was a bit more used to losing people close to him; of course losing someone would never be an easy thing. His mother died when he was fifteen due to a bad case of fever and his father died ten years ago due to age. Frankie, his Labrador retriever that he received from his father the day after his mother passed away was put to sleep only a few years ago because of his deteriorating health due to age. But he knew his best friend was the opposite. Robert still had his mother and father, although they both separated. He never owned a pet and he never had anyone he was close to pass away.

He hoped that Steven could handle this.

"Stevie, at least I lived a good life. I'm fifty-six and I've done so much for the scientific world, didn't I?"

"Well, of course you did. You found the cure to the common cold, buddy!"

"_We_ did, you mean"

"Yeah, we did."

The two men smiled at each other, a moment of peace settling between them. Memories of the shared goal and memories of the shared success flooded their minds.

"I only wish I had a wife. Kids, maybe. A nice house on the beach. Maybe another dog. Maybe then everything would stay."

The laboratory the two scientists shared was set to be knocked down to the ground, the cost of paying for Robert's medical bills being too high to pay any other way.

"I'd like to think we won't need that place anymore. I couldn't work in it without you anyways, Rob. And the extra money from the land will let me retire now anyways. I just wish the money could have saved y-"

Steven paused, looking down at his hands and fighting back his tears. Here he was, broken in front of the best friend he ever had. Always teased for his intellect and preference towards the sciences rather than sports back in primary school, he never had someone know him like Robert did.

"I'm going to miss you, Robert." Steven whispered, placing one hand on his best friend's hand.

A worried look passed on Robert's face.

He knew the land the laboratory once rested on was bound to be broken down today for the sake of construction, but he remembered something important. Something serious.

"Steven… Steve. Remember when we found the cure? Before it. That one strain we kept adding antibiotics and chemicals to. That one strain that evolved strangely."

"Yeah. Virus B-203. I remember that. What about it?"

"Didn't we contain it in a glass encasement? Where did we… where did we put it?"

"I think we placed the encasement in the storage well. The hidden one that-"

A frightened look passed on Steven's face.

"Oh no. Oh no. Shit. Shit! I completely forgot to clear the hidden storage well out!"

"Oh my God, Steven! It's been over fifteen years since we placed that there. Don't you remember what happened when we tried to… The rate of mutation of that virus is insane! You have to… you have to go there! You have to-"

Robert fell back in a fit of coughs, the tubes in his body threatening to slip out and the condition of his lungs worsening. Steven immediately ran to his side, holding his friend up and screaming for the nurse, forgetting about the conversation and focused only on his friend. His friend, whose eyes feared not his own death, but everyone else's.

* * *

"Hey, stop the wheels, yeah?"

The construction worker in yellow yelled on the top of his lungs to the man in red. Pulling the plow away, the man in red gave the other man a curious look before jumping out of the machine and walking to his side.

"What's up?"

"Look 'ere. There's a weird little metal plate underneath this piece of dirt."

Using brute force, the two men managed to pick up the weighted metal and toss it to the side, only to see a small tunnel going down with a ladder pressed against the side. Both shrugging, the man in yellow climbed down, the man in red staring down into the dark hole.

"What's in there?"

"Just a door. Says "Storage Well." Should we tear this place down too or just fill it with dirt?"

"Uh, check what's inside it first. Then we'll just fill it with dirt."

"Seems reasonable, I guess. Throw me down a flashlight? It's dark down here."

The man in yellow jiggled the knob of the door, and the rusty handle gave away quickly. The room it led to was small, about the size of a portable bathroom stall, and the flashlight bounced off the rusty walls and slightly blinded the man. It was almost freezing inside the little room, and his fingers felt numb from being in there for less than ten seconds.

"It's freaking _cold_ in here, man. I think I'm in some Antarctica training room or something."

"Funny. You see anything?"

"There's nothing here except this weird cylinder thing and a really small metal box. The metal box won't budge though. I think it's attached to the table it's on, and there's a small keyhole but I can't open it. Should I bring at least the cylinder up?"

"Yeah. Go ahead. We'll give it to the guy whose land this was. Might be something important. He was a scientist or chemist or something… maybe it's some weird chemical."

Closing the door behind him and climbing back up, the man tossed the cylinder to the man in red before ascending the chilly, underground room and assisting the other man in placing the metal plate back over the entrance.

"Well, it's noon and we're not due for another shift, so want to head back for lunch? We'll give this weird cylinder thing to the man after our next shift."

"Sounds good. This thing is heavy, man. I kind of want to look into it but it's completely metal."

"Don't play around with it! It might be dangerous." The man in yellow scolded, snatching it from the other man's hand.

"Did you do something to it? Why is it so warm? When I picked it up, it was freezing."

"Nope. It was hot when you handed it to me." The man in red replied, shrugging.

"Ah, shit. This might be bad. Maybe it's a chemical that needs to stay in a cold room or something. That stuff exists, you know. Let's put it back in that cold room place again. I don't want to risk anything."

The men began picking up the metal plate again when the cylinder container that they placed on the floor besides them began making a strange, sizzling noise.

"That can't be good. What if it explodes?"

Scared, the two men dropped the plate back in its place and tossed the containment into the rubble they created. The sound of the sizzling continued before finishing with a loud crack, and after silence followed, the two men exchanged looks before slowly making their way towards the rubble. The metal cylinder was broken in half, cracks along the container.

"Oh, well that was stupid."

Picking up one side of the container, the man in red laughed at their fear. The metal container was completely hollow, save for the small pieces of rubble that ended up falling inside it. The man in yellow let out a sigh as well before giving a grin to the other man who tossed the metal back into the container.

"Well, sorry to the scientist guy for breaking his little metal thing. Let's go home, man."

The two picked up their lunchboxes and headed towards the clearing to eat, ignoring the itchy feeling in their throats and the small migraines that poked at the side of their heads. Couldn't be anything _too_ serious.

* * *

"Guys, make sure everything's clean before we leave. Dad's going to freak out if he sees a mess."

Jake smiled at his friends as they filed out of the cabin, backpacks slung on their backs and tired grins on their faces. The three day weekend break was a blast; a whole three days without technology helped him appreciate his friends a whole lot more than he usually would.

The day had been a success; Katie and Bianca didn't fight as much, the awkward tension he felt between Clare and he since the breakup was seceding, Adam and Fiona weren't being too awkward with each other, Eli and Imogen were being as civilized towards each other as can be, and Drew was actually joking around with Alli and Dave. K.C. wasn't being too bad and Marisol was being a lot nicer than at school. He only wished Jenna wasn't busy with projects that weekend; spending time with her would have been fun.

"Can't wait for my cell phone to finally get service. Actually, it'd be nice to at least get my cell phone _back_." Alli sighed as she quickly took the front passenger's seat in Dave's car as Clare and Eli joined in the back. Bianca allowed the Torres brothers and Katie into her car while Fiona allowed Jake and Imogen ride with her. Marisol decided to ride with K.C., who immediately took the lead as the four cars drove back towards civilization. The weekend at Jake's cabin was fun, to say the least, but just thinking about home sweet home made all the tired students excited.

"K.C., you jerk, slow the hell down." Dave muttered under his breath, trying to catch up with the boy without scaring his passengers by going too fast.

Eventually, all three cars excluding K.C.'s slowed down to a moderate pace while K.C. continued his Need For Speed pace towards Degrassi. Luckily for him, there didn't seem to be any cars on the road, except for the few cars they'd see on the side of the road, abandoned.

"I can't even see K.C.'s car anymore." Fiona complained, rolling down a window and waiting for Adam to roll down his window from Bianca's car.

"Hey, Adam. Do you know how much farther we have to go? I'm not that familiar with this road."

"Uh, yeah, like a little under an hour." Adam replied, quickly glancing away, "Eyes on the road, Ms. Coyne. It's dangerous to talk to other cars while driving."

"But I'm not talking to other cars." Fiona laughed, "But if you wish, Prince Adam. Your wish is my command."

Adam flashed Fiona a small smile before rolling up his windows as well. Although the two hit a rough spot after the end of their tumultuous relationship, they knew they were compatible with each other, although not romantically. They could have been the best of friends if the situation had been different. It had been Fiona who asked to start over again with Adam during the weekend cabin trip, and although a little hesitant, Adam agreed. He did like spending time with her back when they were together, and although the girl who was once that girl of his dreams to him, sometimes it was best to let go of his pride and realize that she was confused at the time as well.

And he knew a _lot_ about confusion.

"You okay, Torres?" Bianca was looking at him with an eyebrow raised, and although her tone was nonchalant, he knew she was genuinely worried for him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What makes you think I'm not?" He said with a smile, "I'm good. I'm great."

"Well, you were completely in love with that chick once upon a time, bro." Drew called out from the back, pulling away from his girlfriend for a few seconds.

"Ha. Funny, Drew. Obviously, it wasn't love. It was a crush or something."

The older Torres ruffled his little brother's hair and grinned, "It's okay, bro. Sometimes us guys run into stuff like this. Standard guy trouble. Girl ends up being crazy, girl ends up being a cheater, girl ends up being a _lesbian_…"

"Not helping." Adam replied with a smile, pushing his brother's hand out of his hair, "Katie, _please_ shut your boyfriend up."

"With _pleasure_." Katie laughed, pulling her boyfriend in for another kiss.

"There. We're almost there, see?" Bianca pointed at the town stretching before them, coming closer into view before she slammed on the breaks, turning the wheel violently to the left to avoid a girl running straight towards the car.

"What the f-" Bianca started to say when the girl in question ran towards the still car.

"_Katie_!"

A muffled voice screamed outside Adam's window, and a panicked Marisol continued slamming the glass until Katie quickly opened the door to the back seats of the car and Marisol almost dived in, tears streaming down her face as she rested her head on Katie's shoulder.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my _God_."

She trembled, and a worried Katie rubbed the scared girl's back.

"Was K.C. going way too fast for you?" Drew laughed, "Because that dude was going speed demon on us."

Marisol burst into more tears, with Katie glaring at the tall senior before comforting her best friend. Bianca and Adam exchanged a confused look with each other and the two other cars quickly came to a stop next to Bianca's parked car.

"You can't go… you _can't_ go in there. It's so _bad_, it's... it's _terrible_. I ran like _mad_. You _can't_…" Marisol was repeating the same things, still wrapped in Katie's arms.

Stepping out of the car, Bianca, Adam and Drew waited for the other teenagers to park. The confused students slowly walked towards the three and waited for Katie and Marisol to leave the car as well.

"Any reason we're not getting off the highway? I mean, Degrassi's literally a mile away." Dave grumbled, crossing his arms across his chest while Alli tried to calm the fuming boy down.

"Can't you see the poor girl is crying?" Alli asked, lightly hitting the boy on his arm.

"Okay, okay, but just because K.C. is a really fast driver doesn't mean we have to stop to comfort Marisol. She tends to overreact." Claire stated, running her hand through her hair. She was tired and she just wanted to go home.

"Those… those _things_! They got K.C." Marisol whispered, burying her head into Katie's shoulder once again, tears staining her best friend's shirt.

"What?" Fiona asked, confused, "What things?"

"I don't know!" Cried Marisol, looking up at the group of teenagers, "I… K.C. was going really fast and we got to the edge of town about fifteen minutes ago, but w-we couldn't get in because these abandoned cars were blocking the way. And when we tried to see what was wrong, we saw bodies… t-torn apart bodies e-everywhere. And we thought w-we saw a few guys wandering around b-but they looked so d-disfigured and then t-they grabbed K.C. and I just _ran_ and…"

Marisol burst into tears again, the other teenagers looking on in shock.

"You're _kidding_ me." Adam whispered.

"What the hell." Eli added, sharing a glance with his best friend.

"That sounds like freaking _zombies_, dude." Adam continued, "But zombies aren't real or anything. Right?"

"Don't be stupid. There's no such thing as zombies. Marisol is probably high again." Jake said, a bit frightened.

"Yo, Jake, you got that box of our cell phones? You forgot to hand it out to us before we got on the road. Maybe, uh, we can call and see what's going on then." Dave asked, his anger forgotten.

"Oh, yeah! Completely slipped my mind." Jake ran to open the back of Fiona's car, pulling out a shoebox and opening it, distributing the phones amongst the anxious teenagers.

As soon as the they turned on their phones, they were alerted to a countless number of missed messages and phone calls.

"What the hell." Drew said in shock. Certainly there would be no reason for all these missed calls.

"What the hell." His brother repeated.

"Adam, p-play one of your missed calls." Jake stuttered, the teenagers afraid to listen to what they missed.

"Yeah. Yeah, okay." He replied, finger trembling as he pressed play.

_"Oh my God, Adam. Adam, Adam. You've got to listen to me. I know you're in the woods with those other kids, and thank God. This must have been a holy intervention. Listen to me, listen to me. Son, you cannot come back to Degrassi. You cannot come back here. There's a… there's a... an infection. A virus going around. They're calling it Virus B-203. Listen to me. You cannot come back. Your mother and I left town the moment we heard of the virus. We're heading towards the states to your aunt's house. You remember where it is, right? Please, please for the love of God, don't let them touch you. Don't let them bite you. Don't let them do anything to you. Please, please. I don't know what's going on but all I know is that Degrassi's under quarantine, and so is a whole lot of Canada. We love you, we love you, please don't be h-"_

_"Adam, your father and I love you and Drew too. Please make it safely. Your father is low on battery and the electricity is scarce, so I'm not sure if you can call back, but just know we love you. We love you and we can't-"_

_"Honey! Get out of the w-"_

A few thuds and inhumane screaming filled the speakers of the phone, tears and goose bumps trailing down the teenager's faces and backs.

_"Baby, we'll take care of ourselves alright. Drew, Adam, take care of each other. Bianca… Bianca too. She's as much of a daughter to m-"_

_"We've got to go!"_

_"Mommy loves you, alright?"_

The message ended there, the students standing in shock at the message and Bianca's hand tightly grabbing onto the sleeve of Adam's hoodie. The kids were freely crying, shocked at how sudden the news was, and all too scared to listen to their voicemail and hear something a whole lot worse.

"This is not happening. This is not happening." Eli muttered, his head in his hands.

The next few minutes were filled with the sounds of voicemail being played back, the screaming and the shouting and the _"I love you"_ messages from parents and loved ones filling the quiet atmosphere with a sense of foreboding. Jake couldn't believe how horrible this week was. Just hours ago, they were all having a great time at the cabin.

"I have to go back to the cabin." Jake whispered, slamming his hand against the side of the car, "Dad said he couldn't drive because of the massive traffic jams in town so he and mom are trying to get to the cabin. I know they… they might not have made it. Dad was whispering in the message. He said they were surrounded but… I have to go. You know? They're my parents. I need to… hope."

"I'm going with you." Clare cleared her throat and wiped her tears on her sleeves, "This is so sudden and I don't know what to make of this but I need to go. I need to. They're my parents too."

"I'll go with you." Eli said, "No point in going elsewhere. My parents are… I mean. They're not... I... My neighbors left me a message. They're not..."

Eli covered his eyes with his arm, trying not to cry as Clare opened her mouth in surprise. She held him in a comforting embrace, trying to calm him as his body violently shivered. Adam was quick to join in the hug, and the teenagers couldn't help but cry for Eli and his loss, and the sight of the three close friends sharing the intimate hug felt almost intrusive to watch, almost unbearable to feel.

"Alli and I are going to three towns over. Sav moved there last week so we're hoping…" Dave began, holding Alli's hand with his own, "We're hoping…"

He wasn't able to say what _exactly_ he was hoping for.

"Adam and I are heading to the states. My aunt's house." Drew quickly said, "And Bianca's coming with us. Are you heading our way, Katie?"

"I can't." She said with an upset frown, "I need to find my sister. I… I'm going to head back into Degrassi. She left a message. She's stuck at home. I have to get her out. My parents were forced to leave to a safety center in Ontario but my sister told me they won't let anyone in or out anymore."

"Then I'll hel-"

"No, go to your parents, Drew. Marisol's coming with me," Katie quickly said, "You can't-"

"Adam, I'm going to help Katie. I promise I'll go to aunt's place right after. With Katie and Maya. And don't you dare volunteer coming along too. Smaller groups are harder to detect."

Adam was about to object, but the set look in his brother's eyes told him that there was no point. He was worried for his brother, but he knew that this was something he had to do. Something his brother couldn't live without doing. Letting go of his best friend, Adam turned to his brother and surprised him with a bear hug.

"You better get there safely then, idiot." Adam whispered.

"Same applies to you, dummy." Drew replied, picking up his brother.

The two brothers could not stop the tears that spilled from their eyes; for all they knew, this would be the last time they'd hold each other, and all the memories from childhood ran past their heads, like the time they were in elementary school and built a slightly hazardous tree house together and deemed it Torresvillia, where Drew was the brave knight Sir Drew and Adam was the wise King Adam.

"Permission to assist the princess to her sister, King Adam the Wise?"

"Permission granted, Sir Drew the Lion-hearted."

"I love you, bro."

"Yeah, same."

All the students couldn't help but burst out in another round of tears at the thought of their lives being turned around in a matter of minutes. A family torn apart, a pair of brothers broken, friendships bound to lose links – it was all too much.

"Imogen and I will travel with you, Adam." Fiona said, glancing down at the ground, "My family lives in New York anyways. Imogen doesn't know where her parents are so…"

"I'm alright." Imogen quickly stated, a weak smile gracing her lips, "I'm sure they're… fine."

"Well, I guess this is it then." Fiona said with a wry grimace once everyone settled down, "I guess this is really it."

"We'll all make it. And we'll have another weekend party. It'll be fun." Jake said with a small smile.

"Definitely. We're all going to make it through this. We've been through worse… _technically_." Alli tried to add in, "I mean… zombies are a _stretch_ but…"

"It's a _virus_, not zombies." Drew tried to reason, "And we'll get through this. There's no way we won't. We…"

"We're from Degrassi. Just another day, huh?" Adam tried to joke, eliciting a bit of laughter,

"Yeah. We can do this. I love you all. We can do this. I _believe_ in us." Drew finished, pulling everyone in for a final group hug.

As the tears and final smiles and laughter subsided, there was nothing but silence as the teenagers quickly entered their respective cars. The final words of Drew repeated in each of the students' heads.

_"I believe in us."_

* * *

**End of Part I**

_Classified Information:_  
_Awaiting** Reviews**__and verification._


	2. Phase I: II Safety Precautions

**Virus B-203**  
_Classified Information:_  
_Data breach: Date known_  
_Retraction form requested_

* * *

_Year 2012: Hour 16:31_  
_Date: May 25_

* * *

"How much gas do you have left?"

Bianca turned to Adam with a frown, running her right hand through her hair and trying not to lose sight of the road ahead of them. She shrugged, allowing him to lean over and check the gas meter himself.

"That little, huh."

Nervous, the younger Torres brother rested his head on the back of his seat, releasing a worried sigh before rolling down his window in hopes that Fiona would follow suit. The four of them had been on the road for a whole hour since the group split up at the outskirts of Degrassi. Fiona sped up and rolled down her windows as well, glancing at the boy with a worried look on her face.

"You guys low on fuel too?" She asked.

"Yeah. I'm thinking maybe we should take the next exit off the highway and find some abandoned cars or gas stations to siphon some free fuel from." Adam replied.

The highway was completely deserted; he figured that since the towns were quarantined and blocked off at the very edges, the cars never made it far enough into the highway. The roadblocks lining up around the towns were huge, Marisol had told them before she and Drew followed Katie on the short walk back to Degrassi. Adam was worried for them; it had been an hour since that final conversation and he was scared that they might have been killed or infected by now.

"They're fine, Adam."

Bianca's first words since leaving the other students calmed the racing thoughts in Adam's head. She finally pulled her eyes off the eerily empty roads, giving the boy a worried smile before reaching over with her right hand, resting it gently on Adam's hair and giving it a friendly ruffle.

"So the next exit?" He heard Fiona call out from her car.

"Yup." Adam confirmed, feeling the tension in his shoulders relax as Bianca placed her hand back on the wheel.

"The exit's just around the bend." He heard Fiona say, "Roll up your windows. We never know what might happen once we drive into that town."

"Best strategy? I think we should park right at the edge of the town. Maybe in the more forest-like area of the place. Since all the people probably tried to evacuate, the town's streets might be crammed with cars and God knows what else. We should park, sneak in, grab some gas canisters, and get our butts back here," Imogen quickly stated, peeking out from the passenger's seat.

"That's not a bad idea." Adam gave a morose smile, "Although getting out of this car is the last thing I kind of want to do, but it's a good idea. If driving around in big, shiny cars in crowded streets doesn't scream "_come kill me!_" to zombies, I'm not sure what will."

"_Virus_, Adam. Not zombies." Fiona corrected.

"Zombies." Adam smirked, rolling up the window as Fiona rolled her eyes.

Bianca scoffed at the two as they made the next exit, driving a little longer before turning off the headlights and making a swift turn, parking between two large shrubs surrounding the road. Fiona parked as well, between a tree and a bush horizontal to Bianca's car. Quietly, the teenagers got out of their respective cars, regrouping in front of a large sign that led to a wide street.

"Welcome to Flora County." Adam said, reading the sign.

"Home of crazy, homicidal zombies." Imogen muttered under her breath, "Oh, sorry Fiona. I meant _infected_ people."

"We don't know if they got evacuated here or not. Maybe there are only a few of them running around." Fiona stated, hoping for the best.

"Or maybe the whole town is filled with them." Bianca sighed, running her hands through her hair again, a sign of nervousness.

"And maybe they want to eat us." Adam added, "I _really_ don't want to go in there."

"We have no choice." Bianca said, "We're low on fuel and we have zero supplies other than a few pieces of clothing from that cabin trip. We need to grab a few things or we'll never make it to the states."

"I know, I know," said Adam, raising his hands in defeat, "We'll make it. I think."

The four turned their heads towards the wide street. A toll booth rested on the side, a long, orange blocker protruding from it, a sight very common at the edge of many cities. Cars were lined up behind it, stopped by a long line of sandbags most likely dropped from a helicopter. The sandbags were on top of most of the cars right behind the orange blocker, forming a small sandbag mountain the height of a small hill. Walking towards it, Bianca waited until the other three followed her. She reached forward, one hand on one of the heavy sandbags and one feet feeling its way onto a stable foothold. Once everyone got into position, she nodded her head in approval.

They began to climb.

* * *

It had been an hour since the cars drove away and although a part of Drew wished he had been in Bianca's car watching over his brother, he knew that he couldn't just leave his girlfriend to save her sister in a town most likely ravaged by infected, dangerous people. If they could even be considered people anymore. Shivering at the thought, Drew tightened his grip on his girlfriend's hand. They were walking along the backyards of houses by climbing fences; walking along the sidewalk in front of the houses held too much risk for them. So far, it was working fine. They hadn't run into a single… infected. He knew the infected were there even though he couldn't see them; he could hear the faint muttering and groaning and he could occasionally hear the sounds of one of them puking or eating. The sounds disgusted him and he almost vomited his entire breakfast at the sound of bones crunching.

"Do you know where we are, Katie?" Drew whispered to the blonde.

"Yeah. I think we're almost in my neighborhood. I live thirty minutes away from the edge of town by car, so it shouldn't be long now…" said Katie, quickly looking back to make sure Marisol was still trailing behind them.

"Alright. _God_, I hope your sister's okay."

"She's a smart girl. She'll be fine." Katie said, smiling and trying not to listen to the small bit of doubt lingering in her mind.

"I wonder if Mo's okay." She heard Marisol whisper under her breath.

"Mo?" Katie turned back, "What about him?"

"I mean, it's not like I _like_ him or anything. We worked on a project together and I guess I'm just worried. We, uh, we kind of became friends after that." Marisol replied, as honestly as possible, "I mean, I didn't tell people we were friends because he's… _you know_. Mo. But he's my friend and I'm a little worried… but I know it's stupid. Your sister's in danger and all I'm doing is getting off t-"

"Look, Marisol. You know what? I know I'm worried about my sister, but if you're worried about someone too, I'm not going to get mad at you for that. It's natural to worry about people you care about, and-"

"I don't _care_ about him."

"Of course, Marisol," Katie smiled, wrapping an arm around her best friend's shoulder, "I'm just glad you're not completely scarred up because of what you saw."

"Actually, I kind of am. I'm just trying to think of other things." Marisol nudged her friend back, "Now go back to your boyfriend, why don't you?"

"Yeah, come back to your boyfriend, why don't you?" Drew repeated with a grin.

The three shared a brief laugh, a small moment of the past, before refocusing on the task at hand- rescue Maya.

After climbing countless amounts of fences, trees, and bushes, the trio finally arrived in Katie's backyard. The yard looked just as she left it, Katie thought to herself unhappily. It was almost scary how on any other day, this yard would have led to a normal house, which would have been part of a normal street, which would have been part of a normal town. A part of her wished that she could just waltz back into the house and see her parents there, waiting with a banner reading "Surprise! Just kidding!" and a strawberry cake.

But this wasn't a normal day, and it wasn't a normal house. Nothing was normal anymore.

"You ready, baby?" Drew asked while pulling at the lock on the back door until it broke off with a small crack.

Looking into the living room through the opened back door, Katie could only see debris and wood thrown dangerously everywhere, as if a tornado had hit the inside of the house. The front door was barricaded by the living room couch, but that didn't seem to matter given that there was a hole in the ceiling from what Katie could see from her position by the door. The house was a complete, chaotic mess, and Katie was scared of the state she might find her sister in, if she even found her at all, and that's when she knew.

She wasn't looking for her sister anymore. She was looking for a body. With a few tears trailing down her cheek, she stepped inside.

"Let's find her."

* * *

He was scared, scared out of his wits. His foot never left the acceleration, and for an entire hour, he avoided conversation, the only thought in his mind to get to Sav as quickly as he could. Alli was bouncing her leg up and down next to him, a habit he would have usually been irritated with, but he understood why she was doing it. She didn't know what to expect. Would Sav be there, waiting for them like he said he would in her voice message? Or was he ripped apart by those… _things_?

Sav's message to Alli was simple enough; he said that the college was forcing their students to leave the town to a safer location, but he made sure to buy a lot of food and water and to stock it up in his dormitory room. His logic seemed foolproof; if everyone left the town, then there would be no infected trying to attack him. The address to his dorm room was stated in the message, his voice hurried and hushed, the sound of panic in the background. Her brother was a brave guy, Alli thought.

Dave thought he was stupid.

It was a disease, a _virus_. If anything, if the virus was airborne or waterborne, who's to say that Sav wasn't infected by it as well? What if they were walking into a deathtrap? What if Sav was already _dead_?

The town was mostly abandoned when Dave and Alli arrived there; the streets occasionally had the dead infected lying about. They looked almost normal, except their clothes were torn and their bodies and faces white and pale. Blue veins stuck out from under their skin, and their eyes looked almost yellow. Their skin bubbled at the surface, tearing at some places and bleeding puss and blood at the corners. Their mouths were ripped to the cheeks, probably from trying to eat everything in sight, and large lacerations usually covered most of their bodies. Hair was scarce on those things; they were in thin wisps on the top of the head; Dave assumed the hair fell out as soon as the virus took hold. Most of these dead… creatures were holding their stomachs, and Dave thought to himself how they must have starved to death or perhaps the virus was too strong and ended up overpowering their bodies.

He made sure not to allow Alli to go anywhere near the things; how could they be sure they were truly dead, and even if they were, what if the virus remained post-mortem? He couldn't risk that. Once in a while, he'd see a body plucked clean of skin and meat lying on the sidewalk, completely bloody. He assumed these were the people who were eaten before the infection had a chance to mutate them into one of those zombie creatures.

Dave wasn't sure which was worse.

"Dave... Dave, that's the college dorm Sav lives in." Alli said, pointing at a nice-looking facility building.

"It looks good from outside." Dave tried to joke, parking right outside of it.

"Let's just hope the inside's just as good." Alli replied, giving a tight smile, "And let's be thankful none of those zombies were alive."

"If they're zombies, Alli, they're _never_ alive." Dave retorted, trying to make his girlfriend laugh.

"Dave, they're infected people… driven mindless because of the virus. If one of us got infected, we'd kill without a second thought. That _scares_ me, Dave." Alli stammered, hand hovering over the car door.

"I was just trying to make you laugh," Dave admitted, "But listen, babe, I'm here. Nothing's going to hurt you. We'll step outside together, okay? On three."

"Okay."

"One."

Alli and Dave pulled on the handle of the car door.

"Two."

Taking a deep breath, Dave looked over at Alli to see her doing the same.

"Three."

* * *

Clare didn't know what to say to the boy who was sitting next to her, his arms wrapped around his legs and his head between his knees. Jake was driving an abandoned car they found along the road that had more fuel than the previous car. She decided to sit in the back seat next to her ex-boyfriend, and Jake didn't mind that he wouldn't have anyone sitting next to him. In fact, he preferred the quiet to help him mull over a few things running through his mind.

The drive was slower than before, mostly because Jake was trying to preserve gasoline and because he did not want to do anything that might cause Eli to break down.

"Adam didn't come with us, right?" Eli asked without moving an inch.

"No, he didn't." Clare replied, gently patting the boy's back.

A moment of silence passed.

"Shame." Eli said before silencing completely.

Clare wished that the other boy was here; he and Eli were best friends for the longest time. She knew that if there was anyone that could make Eli feel a little bit better, it would be Adam. Still, she knew contact was impossible; she tried calling someone, anyone, but her calls kept getting dropped. Another part of Clare hurt at the thought of another boy being able to make Eli feel better than she could. She was trying her hardest to comfort Eli but the first thing he said to her was about Adam. She wanted to believe that she was just as good of a friend as Adam was to Eli, despite the whole we-broke-up situation between Eli and herself.

"Hey, we're here." She heard her brother say as the car came to a full stop.

The three teenagers got out of the car, pulling their backpacks from the weekend trip out of the trunk with them before walking into the cabin and throwing the bags onto the floor.

"Hey, Eli, help me bring all the stuff from the tool shed into the cabin? We might need them." Jake asked, looking over at the upset boy.

"Jake, Eli is not in the right mindset to do something like that. He just lost his parents." Clare tried to reason.

"No, he's right. It's better if I help." Eli muttered, following Jake out of the cabin, "I don't want to lose anyone else."

Clare sighed, sitting down on the couch when she spotted Eli's cell phone on the ground. He must have tossed it inside with the backpacks. Leaning over, she picked it up, only for the saved messages to begin playing again.

_"Eli? This is Mrs. Potters. From n-next door? I've… I've got to hurry. They're rushing us out of here. But your parents, your parents. The men in hazmat suits were here. They were sent by National Security. I tried to tell them your parents had allergies and they weren't infected. I know they weren't! But they said they couldn't risk it and they wouldn't let them into the helicopter and they left them back there. With the real infected people. It's crazy, it's crazy, I saw those infected... they were on them in an instant. I can't… I'm sorry. They told me to tell you they love you. They love you, Eli, please don't forget that. They love you. Oh, I've got to go. I'm so sorry."_

The cell phone went flying across the room, breaking apart on impact with the wall, and Clare looked up in shock at the boy who stood there, trembling. Ignoring her own tears trailing down her face, she allowed the black haired boy to fall limp in her arms, strangled cries escaping his throat, shovels and axes forgotten by the door. Jake stood watching, wiping his tears with the back of his hand.

His own bundle of tools were left by the door as well.

He wondered if _they_ were like the tools.

_Forgotten_.

* * *

**End of Part II**


	3. Phase I: III Hazard Zone

**Phase I: III Hazard Zone**

* * *

**Virus B-203**

_Classified Information:_  
_Data breach: Date known_  
_Retraction form requested_

_Year 2012: Hour unknown_  
_Date: May 25/26_

* * *

The moment she stepped into the house, Katie felt her knees getting weak. Although Marisol and Drew quickly held her up from both sides, the girl could not help but let out a strangled gasp. The shelves that littered the floor and the broken glass shattered on the carpet brought her back to the gravity of her situation, and she was frightened. She was in an unprotected house, miles away from help, surrounded by an indefinite amount of the undead. Did she only succeed in leading her best friend and boyfriend into certain death?

Swallowing despite the knot she felt in her throat, she shook her two companions off of her arms, shakily taking a step towards the staircase by the broken television set. One hand tightly grabbing the railing, she made her way upstairs, Marisol and Drew quickly in tow. The carpeted hallway looked almost untouched, except for the debris, and Katie felt hope leap from her stomach to the back of her throat. Looking over to the door so familiar to her, the door that led to the room she shared with her sister, she allowed herself to breathe. Her companions were attempting to smile besides her, but moved back when Katie's hand hovered over the doorknob.

"Maya?" Katie whispered, opening the door with a quick push.

The room was almost in the same condition as it was when she left it. The walls were still the same vanilla white and the floors were still a clean blue with a red floral pattern. The double bunk bed looked to be in perfect condition and there was no hint that anything wrong happened outside of that room. Sitting down on the mattress of her sister's bottom bunk, Katie let out a shaky breath. Where was Maya?

Her eyes caught sight of a small trail of darkened red splotched along the carpet. Following the trail with her eyes, it led to the table her sister used, and then to the closet, which looked a bit broken, although still closed. Walking over to the table first as Drew and Marisol stood by the door, she reached out and picked up a piece of loose leafed paper and she was able to identify her sister's neat handwriting, although it was a bit blurry and rushed on the paper. Blood was splattered across the top of the paper, but it was already dried. Noticing her two companions' curious expressions, Katie took a deep breath and began to read out loud.

"Katie, I'm not sure if you'll find this or if you're even alive, and God I hope you're safe someplace else but is it wrong that I wish you were with me? I went out because I couldn't stay alone here anymore with those screams I always heard outside but when I walked into the back yard, God, it was horrible. It messed up my leg bad and I smashed its head in with Dad's golf club but my leg hurts so bad and I feel really sick and I don't want to be like those things Katie, I don't want to be infected."

Katie wiped the tears forming in her eyes and struggled to continue reading.

"I love you and dad and mom and thank you for all you did for me and I'm so sorry for all the fights we ever had. I don't want to hurt anyone, Katie. You know that's the last thing I ever want to do so I'm going to lock myself up somewhere and hope to God I don't hurt anyone. Katie, I'm scared. Katie, it hurts so much and I can't think clear any-"

The next few words were incomprehensible and Katie shrunk back, wiping her tears on her sleeve before feeling Marisol's arms around her. Drew was at the closet door, and as Marisol comforted the crying Katie, Drew walked towards them with a bundle in his arms.

"It's Maya." Drew whispered, his own tears falling onto the green bundle, "I wrapped her up in a blanket in the closet. You don't want to see her right now. She's hard to recognize, and it's probably not safe to touch her or hold her for too long. Let's bury her. I think she deserves that much."

Katie nodded her head and walked behind Drew back downstairs and into the backyard, quietly folding the letter and slipping it into her front pocket. Katie sat staring down at the grass as Drew and Marisol grabbed shovels from the tool shed in her backyard and dug a hole as quietly and efficiently as they could, understanding that Katie would need some time to think.

The sun was almost setting and the grass looked almost celestial in the hue of the falling sun. Katie could feel herself smile as she stared at the small patch of ground where almost no grass grew and where two flags, one colored a messy red and the other a messy blue, stuck out of the grass, untouched for years. She felt as if it was yesterday that her sister forced her to play a game of War with her.

_"Come on, Katie! Please?" Maya begged, grabbing hold of her older sister's leg._

_"No, Maya. I'm gonna go to middle school next year and middle schoolers don't play War, okay?"_

_"Please, please, please? Last time, ever. I promise!" Maya fluttered her round eyes at her older sister, who merely crossed her arms and shook her head with a defiant glare._

_"But you love playing War!" Pressed Maya, unable to believe her sister did not want to play War with her._

_"Well, I guess, but when you grow, you have to sacrifice things." Katie said in the most mature voice she could muster._

_"Please! Katie! Please!" Maya begged, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. Katie could feel her willpower weakening, half because how upset her sister was and half because she wanted to play._

_"Fine, fine, don't be a big baby and cry about it, geez. I'll play." _

_"Yes! Thank you so much! I love you!" _

_"Yeah, yeah. I get to be red team this time then."_

Katie quickly stood up, shaking the memory from her mind as she walked towards the patch of ground and bent over, pulling the handmade flags, which were wearing and tearing from years of weather, from the dirt. Drew and Marisol were about done, lowering Maya's covered body down into the ground, and Katie watched as they poured the dirt back on over her sister. As they finished up, she stuck the flags into the dirt over the body, crying as she remembered all the times she spent with her sister, the good and the bad.

"I'm so sorry I haven't been the best sister. I'm so sorry I don't tell you I love you more often. I'm so sorry you had to die alone. I'm so sorry." She whispered frantically.

Marisol and Drew exchanged mournful glances as their broken friend cried, feeling their own eyes prickling with warm tears, but they could not bring themselves to cry like their friend.

To imagine the loneliness of dying alone, they could not bring themselves to do.

* * *

"Sav better be here or I'm going to seriously freak the hell out."

Whispering to the girl currently grabbing tightly onto his arm, Dave slipped the car keys into his pocket and took his and Allie's bags out from the trunk of the car. Throwing the bags over his shoulder, he walked forward, allowing Alli to slip into a comfortable pace besides him. She refused to let go of his arm as they made their way towards the dormitory, although Dave wasn't in the position to complain. He felt like the tight grip Alli had on him was the only thing keeping his mind anchored to reality.

The front door of the dormitory was locked shut. Cursing out loud, Dave jiggled the metal lock that held the door closed, making sure not to be too noisy. He noticed a small scanner by the side of the door and quickly dropped the bags and pulled free from Alli's grip before running towards the front of the parking lot where he saw the body of a fallen professor on his way into the lot. Alli watched from the front of the door as Dave raised and pumped a triumphant hand in the air before running back to his anxious girlfriend, a white card hanging on a lanyard in his hands.

"I used to visit my cousin's campus all the time, and if there's one thing I remember, it's that professors always have id badges that grant them access literally everywhere," he recalled with a smirk, cheering when the scanner beeped in recognition of the card and unlocked the door for the two teenagers.

"Let's hurry." Alli whispered to Dave, who was quick to agree.

"Where's your brother at?" Dave asked as the two rushed through the dark halls of the abandoned dormitory.

"Just follow me. I've been here before." Alli replied.

The two teenagers made their way through various halls and up multiple staircases before they stopped in front of a closed door, the only closed door on the entire floor. Carefully, Dave grabbed the handle of the door, scrunching his nose in disgust when a layer of dust flew up from the unused knob. He tried twisting the knob to no avail and tried pushing in the door with his shoulder. When the door wouldn't budge, he sighed and faced Alli with a frown.

"Are you sure it's here?"

Before Alli could respond, the door flew open and a tired looking Sav ran out, grabbing his little sister in a big bear hug.

"Holy shit, Alli, I was so fucking scared. I thought you died. I thought you-"

Crying, he held on to his sister as she hugged him back with her own tears spilling.

"Sorry I didn't open the door right away. Can't ever be too sure, right?" Sav joked, pulling the two teens inside the room before shutting the door and locking it once again.

The room was not damaged, with two beds on the farthest wall and a desk piled high with cans and bottles. The floor was covered in blankets and pillows and the window was boarded up. A small door next to the desk led to a small bathroom, and despite the daytime, the entire room was shrouded in darkness. A single candle was lit on the corner of the table.

"What's with the blankets?" Dave asked, kicking one of the pillows on the ground.

"Well, it's been a few days since everyone evacuated so I try going to a few rooms a day to try to find something useful, you know?"

"Smart." Alli smiled, hugging her brother again.

"We'll make it through this entire nightmare, I promise." Sav smiled, extending an arm for Dave.

Dave smiled and stepped towards his embrace.

He couldn't help but start doubting him.

* * *

"How's Eli doing?" Jake asked, pulling Clare aside.

"He's… doing." Clare replied, running a hand through her hair and sitting down.

"Still not talking?" He asked, taking a seat next to Clare on the couch.

"Not at all. He's out by the lake right now. He wanted to be alone for a little while."

"Don't worry. He can handle himself and it's still day time." Jake quickly reassured, knowing the doubts plaguing the girl's mind.

"I'm not worried about anyone else hurting him." Clare sighed, "I'm worried about him himself."

The two siblings glanced out the small, glass-less window overlooking the lake. The black-haired boy was sitting on a few of the rocks overlooking the lake, his bare feet kicking at the water. Clare wondered what he was thinking. Even when they were dating, she almost never knew what was going through his head. His emotions always seemed to be on polar ends; one moment, he'd react in a calm and controlled manner, and the next day, he'd lash out and get himself into dangerous situations.

"His meds!" Clare quickly exclaimed, "He didn't take them in a while."

"Clare, I'm pretty sure he's depressed because of his parents, no because-"

"I know, I _know_. I'm just saying it might help him a little bit."

Quickly, Clare rummaged through Eli's bag. For almost ten minutes she searched, refusing Jake's offer to help her. A hand pulled on her shoulder, and in her haste, she yelled.

"Seriously, Jake, stop."

To her surprise, the face staring into hers was not her step-brother's. Eli looked mildly amused, the first sign of any emotion on his face for the past few days.

"You looking for this?"

He shook a small pill bottle, letting it drop into the girl's hands.

"I took one already. My mom used to always be on my back about that. Guess she deserves as much."

Jake stood and took the pill bottle, opting to place it on the counter of the cabin's small kitchen.

"So I've done some serious thinking and I think we should put up a fence around the cabin. Leave a little breathing room for us though. Like a few yards or acres of land for ourselves and just block it off. I know there's a village on the opposite side of the road and that spells trouble for us."

Eli nodded at Jake's suggestion, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Alright. So Eli and I will put up the fencing and Clare can stay her-"

"No. She'll be alone here and we'll be too far off to even hear her if she needs help."

"Eli, I'll be fine."

"No."

Jake hesitated, but noticing the old stubbornness flash in Eli's eyes, he reluctantly agreed.

"Eli's right. You'll come with us. And three people can get more done than two, anyways."

"Always the mathematician, aren't you, Jake?"

Jake ruffled his sister's hair before racing off to grab a few planks from the shed outside. Sighing, Clare grabbed Eli in a quick embrace, a few tears escaping out of the corners of her eyes.

"I'm so sorry…"

His eyes widened in surprise. Honestly, he wanted to cry, to lash out, and to push away the girl for mentioning the very thing he was trying to push out of his head for the past few hours. But there was something about her warmth that calmed him down. It reminded him of when he was younger and how his mother would hold him in a tight, warm hug when he had nightmares. How she'd whisper into his ears that everything would be better in the morning and that she wouldn't leave him. It reminded him how badly he wanted to believe her.

"Don't leave me." He whispered, closing his eyes, lost in Clare's embrace.

"Never."

And for the first time, he believed.

* * *

"What have we got?"

As luck would have it, the town was mostly abandoned and the only "zombies" they encountered were already dead or disabled, unable to give a chase. The four teenagers split and looked through the houses for a few hours, meeting back at the town's recreational park with bags filled with whatever salvageable items they could find.

"I found a supermarket and it was completely empty," Fiona smiled, shaking the contents of her bag on the ground, "But I guess looters never thought to check the backroom stocks. Perishable foods are a no-go, but I got lot of cans, boxes, and a few candy bars. Water bottles too."

"Well, I kind of know this town since my cousin used to live here. I went to the rich part of the neighborhood and one of the rich guys had a private car collection in the garage so I grabbed a few canisters of gas. It was really, really heavy so I wasn't able to bring a lot of stuff from the house with me, but I did grab a few batteries, flashlights, candles, and matches, if that helps. Oh, and a few handfuls of bathroom essentials for each of us."

Imogen poured out the contents of her bag next to Fiona's and placed the canisters of gas down. Bianca had two bags; one on her back and one in her hands. She smiled while tossing them down on top of the piles.

"I had a bit of a shopping trip at the nearest thrift stores. The shopping mall is completely impossible to get into, unfortunately, but I got a lot of good clothes for us. The red bag is filled with clothes I thought Adam and I could use and the black bag has clothes for you both. Don't worry; I made sure to grab some underwear and shoes too."

"Unlike you guys, I thought about survival essentials."

Grinning, Adam unzipped his bag and slowly pulled out a few handguns, ammo boxes, and knives.

"My dad used to tell me that a true man has a gun. And a true man with a gun hides them in their closet. Went through like fifty closets but I think I got a few good weapons out of it."

The sun was beginning to set when the four teenagers split their rations between themselves, splitting each of the essentials. The climb back to the outside of the city was even harder with the extra weight of the bags on their shoulders and in their arms, but after a few hours of struggling, the group made it back to their cars.

"Adam, can you get our cars filled up?" Fiona asked to the nodding boy.

The three girls sat on a fallen tree trunk nearby, sipping on water bottles and watching the boy at work.

"Do you think we'll make it?" Fiona asked, doubt clouding her mind.  
"Hey, we made it this far. I honestly thought the moment we went inside that city, we'd be ambushed by blood hungry zombies."

"_Infected_ people."

"Yeah, yeah, infected people. My bad."

Rolling her eyes, Bianca watched Adam work, ignoring Fiona and Imogen's conversation. The boy was carefully refilling the gas and checking all the other functions of the car as well, just in case. He had stolen a few extra parts from the abandoned cars and was currently trying to do as much as he could in the limited time that they had. Bianca liked the way his eyebrows were scrunched in concentration and how the oil from the cars marked his face. She was almost as focused on him as he was on the cars. She was so focused that she almost didn't notice the tree behind him shake.

"Adam! Move!"

Bianca was immediately on her feet, watching the boy's eyes widen as he jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the figure that fell out from behind the tree. The figure immediately turned towards Adam again, the foam gathering at its mouth as it lumbered towards the Torres boy.

Frantic, Bianca unzipped one of the bags and reached for a gun, pulling it out before realizing that it wasn't loaded. Cursing under her breath, she pulled out a magazine of bullets. All the while, Adam kept ducking and dodging the figure's attacks. Its eyes were yellow, rolled back, and its skin was white, dry, and beginning to crack. The hair on its head was in thin, long wisps and blood was dried around a few deeper cracks on the thing's body.

"Someone please kill this freaking zombie!" Adam yelled as it lashed at him again.

Imogen was searching through her bag for a weapon as well while Fiona was screaming, petrified to her seat at the sight. The creature was on top of Adam now, foam falling on his shirt as it screeched, hungry for flesh. Bianca finally had the gun prepared and seeing the zombie about to kill Adam scared her.

"Get the fuck off of him!"

Screaming, she shot at the figure, not stopping until its screeching subsided and it fell to its side. Immediately, Imogen and Fiona were at his side, pulling him away from the creature and examining him.

"It didn't get him. It didn't hurt him." Fiona assured Bianca, who was in tears.

"Why is he bleeding? Why is he bleeding? She repeated, pointing at the pool of blood under him.

"One of the bullets hit him. His… his arm." Imogen replied.

"Oh my God, oh my God, I'm so sorry Adam, oh my God." Bianca cried, dropping to her knees and holding his bleeding arm.

"Ah…" Adam gritted his teeth, tears beginning to pool at the edge of his eyes, "It's not s-so bad t-the second time around."

Bianca managed to suppress a grin at his joke.

"Y-you have to get the bullet out. I saw a documentary on this. You gotta get the… the bullet out."

"He's right." Imogen said, voice shaking, "If we don't he can get seriously infected. We had a bottle of alcohol somewhere, right?"

Fiona ran back with a bottle of rum, handing it to Imogen as she poured it on the wound, eliciting a cry from Adam.

From somewhere deep in the forest, the group heard a few screeches.

"T-they heard the gun and t-they smell the blood. We h-have to get out of here." Adam struggled to say, "Get t-the bags in the cars. I was j-just about done anyways."

Bianca and Fiona quickly grabbed the supplies and threw them into the back seats of their individual cars, slamming the hoods of the cars closed while Imogen took care of his wound.

"Adam, this is going to hurt really bad. Just… close your eyes or…"

"Yeah, just do it." Adam replied, clenching his teeth, "Get it over with, please."

"Three… two…"

Adam's scream brought more tears to Bianca's eyes as Imogen quickly tossed aside the bloody bullet and used one of the extra shirts to wrap around his still bleeding wound. Helping him up, she opened the passenger's side door and pushed Adam in before quickly running to Fiona's car. All the while, the screeching of the creatures got louder and louder.

"We have to go. They're getting closer."

As fast as they could, the two drivers pulled out of the small space and rushed back onto the road, speeding until the screeching sounds faded into the distance. When the two cars finally slowed down, Bianca turned her gaze towards the quiet Torres brother, reaching out and grabbing his slack hand.

"I'm sorry, Adam."

"Why are you sorry? You saved my life."

He looked back at her with a smile as she looked back to the road in confusion.

"I should have waited a little longer for a clearer sho-"

"No. If you waited any longer, it would have scratched me or bit me and then died. And then what? What if I got infected? What if I ended up killing Fiona and Imogen and you?"

The two rode in silence a little longer.

"I'm just a little worried I won't be able to use my left hand quite the same again." Adam joked with a grin.

Bianca felt her heart lighten. No matter how bad the situation got, the younger boy always seemed to have something to joke about. She couldn't place her finger on why she felt so frightened at the sight of the boy hurt, but it was the same skip in her heart she felt when he was shot at prom. A part that told her that if he died, she'd never… never… She wasn't sure, but she didn't want to feel that moment of absolute fear ever again.

"You use your right and I'll be your left."

* * *

_End of Part III._  
_Awaiting Review._


End file.
